Researchers from the American Scripps Research Institute have uncovered an unexpected cause of high arterial blood pressure in some individuals.
The JMIR journal explained that the study was based on data from wearable fitness devices, and showed that individuals whose sleep times varied by just one hour between nights were more than twice as likely to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, and their risk of developing high blood pressure increased by 71%. The researchers confirmed that the issue is linked to sleep regularity - i.e., the timing of sleep and waking - not its duration.
The study included about 400 adults, who collected their digital data and filled out health questionnaires for an average of two years, allowing for the analysis of long-term behavioral patterns that do not appear in short-term monitoring.
The study leaders pointed out that wearable devices can be an effective tool for early detection of cardiovascular risks, but the discovered relationship does not yet prove a cause-and-effect mechanism, and further studies are needed to understand the impact of irregular sleep on health accurately.
